"Chocolate Desserts" by Pierre Herme (Part 2)

[Lior]

Something weird and not really connected. P.H.'s sister lives in my area and buys chocolate bonbons from me!! I told her she probably should ask her brother to bring her some when he visits her!

[gfron1]

chocoera- I think that was the first recipe I did from the book and a really fun place to start. Your pics looks great - I hope you have have fun making more and more. The chocolate crust in there is my go to - something like Nayla's crust.

[chocoera]

i'll try that chocolate crust next...sounds fab-o!

...and of course, post pics!

[alanamoana]

put 1 1/3 cup sugar with 1 T corn syrup and 1/3 water in a bowl over a double boiler. use hand mixer and mix (with the double boiler at a simmer) till firm peaks are formed

you don't need anything else with this? it seems strange that you can just whip sugar, corn syrup and water over a bain marie and make it form stiff peaks...am i missing something?

[chocoera]

put 1 1/3 cup sugar with 1 T corn syrup and 1/3 water in a bowl over a double boiler. use hand mixer and mix (with the double boiler at a simmer) till firm peaks are formed

you don't need anything else with this?  it seems strange that you can just whip sugar, corn syrup and water over a bain marie and make it form stiff peaks...am i missing something?

←

*ha ha ha* you're right, in my haste to post pictures, i forgot to write down you need 2 egg whites with the sugar mixture! *sorry!* so it should be 1 1/3 cup sugar, mixed with 2 egg whites, 1 T corn syrup, and 1/3 cup water. Mix over double boiler on simmer till firm peaks. add 1 cup mini marshmallows and 1 tsp vanilla. and voila!!

thanks for pointing that out (you're so clever!!!!) , i completely didn't catch the mistake when i wrote it! so please, try it, its super yummy!!!

[Chris Hennes]

My brother bought me this book for Christmas this year, so today I made the Pistachio Waffles with Chocolate Cream on p. 143. I had a bit of trouble with the chocolate cream not setting up, so I popped it into the ice cream churner and turned it into chocolate soft serve, which worked fine. Unfortunately my waffle maker is of the "belgian" variety, which resulting in waffles that were thick and soft, rather than thin and crispy. Still, the flavors were nice, and no one complained...

[Tri2Cook]

Nice Chris. After owning the book for a few years, I finally pulled it off the shelf and did a few of the recipes last year. I think you'll have fun with it.

[Genkinaonna]

I made the chocolate mousse for dessert after our seven fishes dinner last night...topped it with cara cara orange slices and salted caramel sauce. So good, and really easy, although it seemed like it took a lot longer for the egg whites to whip (I used the pasteurized in shell eggs) than it usually does. I used ghirardelli chocolate, I can see where using higher quality chocolate wold really make a difference here, since there's no cream, the nuances (of which my chocolate was sorely lacking) really come through in this recipe.

[FrogPrincesse]

I received this book as a gift many years ago but haven't used it much. So far I've only made a couple of (very simple) recipes: Suzy's Cake, which is good (but I still prefer my mom's chocolate cake recipe), and the Chocolate and Lemon Madeleines, which I did not really care for as I prefer more traditional honey madeleines. Overall the recipes seemed a little complex so I have not used the book much.

I am looking for a recipe to make this weekend for a birthday party and would like to cook from this book. Medium difficulty is ok. What would you recommend? We are dark chocolate lovers in the family.

[Kerry Beal]

The Bittersweet Chocolate Sorbet is what I make from that book.

Edited October 25, 2011 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Genkinaonna]

I like the Apricot and Ginger Chocolate Loaf cake. I've made it both with and without the ginger and apricots, and substituted nuts for the apricots, and homemade candied cherries for the apricots and generally messed around with it a bunch. It's always good, especially with coffee. I've also had really good luck with the chocolate macaron recipe.

Of course, it goes without saying, we want to see what you actually end up making!

[FoodMan]

I received this book as a gift many years ago but haven't used it much. So far I've only made a couple of (very simple) recipes: Suzy's Cake, which is good (but I still prefer my mom's chocolate cake recipe), and the Chocolate and Lemon Madeleines, which I did not really care for as I prefer more traditional honey madeleines. Overall the recipes seemed a little complex so I have not used the book much.

I am looking for a recipe to make this weekend for a birthday party and would like to cook from this book. Medium difficulty is ok. What would you recommend? We are dark chocolate lovers in the family.

The Pave cake is decadent and delicious.

[FrogPrincesse]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I may have to make all of the above!

The Pave cake is decadent and delicious.

The Pavé cake sounds wonderful and simple enough to make (and it did get rave reviews on this thread). However I have this unwritten rule against all milk chocolate as I typically find it too sweet and never really understood the point of "adulterating" perfectly good dark chocolate with extraneous ingredients.

Do you think that this recipe will make me reconsider my position on milk chocolate?

[FoodMan]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I may have to make all of the above!

The Pave cake is decadent and delicious.

The Pavé cake sounds wonderful and simple enough to make (and it did get rave reviews on this thread). However I have this unwritten rule against all milk chocolate as I typically find it too sweet and never really understood the point of "adulterating" perfectly good dark chocolate with extraneous ingredients.

Do you think that this recipe will make me reconsider my position on milk chocolate?

1- I agree about Milk Chocolate. I rarely ever touch the stuff.

2- Yes to your question

[FrogPrincesse]

I was sold on the Pavé du Faubourg cake until I realized I would need apricots. Good apricots are hard to come by in San Diego, especially at the end of October. I am not sure that dried apricots would be a good option. Any other ideas?

[choux]

The recipe does call for dried apricots.

[FrogPrincesse]

choux,

That is strange because my copy calls for fresh apricots. I have the French version of the book. Maybe something got lost in translation?

Problem solved then!